Serco supports Exercise Talisman Sabre for more than 10 years

For more than 10 years, Serco Australia has supported the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in undertaking the largest bilateral combined training activity between the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and United States military, Talisman Sabre (TS21) exercise. This year, Serco supported the inshore maritime operations component of the exercise, facilitating 24/7 Towage Support from Weipa to Mackay. Serco’s Fleet Marine Services Contract (FMSC) North East Support Group in consultation with the HMAS Cairns Port Services Team, managed berthing assistance for multiple warships with combined tonnage of 88,975 tons or 1,104m of vessels. Serco Defence Managing Director Clint Thomas AM, CSC, said Serco’s crew did an outstanding job supporting the exercise. “During the last month, Serco Defence has proudly supported both Exercise Pacific Vanguard and now Talisman Sabre, with our participation throughout the Fleet Marine Services Contract a testament to the strong partnership we have built with Navy,” Thomas said. Conducted off Queensland’s north-east coast, exercise Talisman Sabre tests the ADF’s respective forces in planning and conducting Combined and Joint Task Force operations and improve the combat readiness and interoperability between Australian and US forces. The ninth iteration of the exercise, TS21 consists of a Field Training Exercise incorporating force preparation (logistic) activities, amphibious landings, ground force manoeuvre, urban operations, air combat and maritime operations. This year the exercise included approximately 17,000 military personnel from Australia, America, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Great Britain and New Zealand participating across all domains of maritime, land, air, information and cyber and space. Serco’s FMSC team in Cairns provide Tug Services with their 15-metre general purpose workboat 11 tonne bollard pull for visiting RAN ships at schedule and short notice tasking, as well as Stores, Passenger transfers and MEVIDAC transfers as required within the Port of Cairns. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Kym Bergmann at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Director of Sales Graham Joss at [email protected]